HELP!!!

[CP_dude]

well, my S. Alata X minor was looking wonderfull...untill JUST NOW...

it's leaves suddently wilted and turned soft...
These are my first sarrs ever, but i'm thinking it's from todays heat wave coming in (it's supposed to hit 90's today.)

i just threw a couple ice cubes in the water tray to cool it down a tad...

here are som pice

...ok, nvm about the pics...aparently they are too large to post... but does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[rco911]

Hi Cp Dude,
During sudden unusual hot weather, (like a hot weather snap) ive had a sarr or two wilt. How does the base of the plant look? Can you see if that wilting is also on any new growth? Does the base of the plant look healthy, or is the wilting only affecting say the top half of the pitchers?

Ive had this happen with a leuco where during pitcher formation and unsually hot weather (100's) the pitcher would wilt, then when things cool down a bit, the pitcher would rectify itself causing a funny shaped sidways "S" pitcher The plant did put up some new leaves and is back to normal.

If the plant is healthy, it should be able to recover and put up some more new pitchers.

Another thing that can cause wilting is a fungus infection at the base. if the rhizome is starting to look mushy, there there's trouble - but since you say that it was doing good and leaves were good, then it does not sound like an infection... just sounds like a "heat stroke" how cool were your temps before the heat wave?

 

[CP_dude]

the base looks fine, new growth has wilted a little, full pitchers have wilted almost compleatly...mostly halfway, but it's bending at the bottom...

Will the fully grown pitchers recover? They just opened up the other day...lol

The temps were maybe in the high 60's mid 70's...but just snaped into the 90's today...and they will remain in the 90's untill friday...pushing 100's...

i hope they'll be OK, the rest of my sarrs seem to be

 

[Not a Number]

I've come home a couple times on very hot dry days and found my S. leucophylla trays bone dry and the pitchers limp and wilted. They perk back up a few hours later after top watering the pots and letting the runoff fill the trays. S. leucophylla seem to consume lots of water.

I've got a few of the "S" shaped pitchers. I attributed them to the winds but the heatwaves we've had in LA recently usually come with winds.

 

[curlingguy]

You can upload photos to photobucket then use their system to make the photos smaller......

 

[RL7836]

Forbes reported a while back on a fungal issue called Fusarium wilt (iirc) that has these symptoms.

 

[Not a Number]

Fusarium causes rhizome rot - inspection of the rhizome will reveal the damage from Fusarium

 

[Alexis]

How deep is the water in the tray? If it's a hot, windy day the plant will be losing a lot of water and the roots will literally need to be sitting in water so it can suck the water up.

 

[CP_dude]

The water is about 1/2 way up the pot, a little less...

it's gotta be the heat. it wilts around mid day, and pops itself back up when the shade hits it around 4...

what confuses me is that it's only that one sarr...not any of the others...lol

the rhizome looks fine though, white and sturdy, not soft at all...

 

[Not a Number]

Fusarium is kind of tricky - the roots will look healthy and the portions of the rhizome furthest away from the roots might be relatively untouched (i.e. the top).

If you haven't unearthed the plant for inspection, push your fingers down into the soil and give all the portions of the rhizome you can reach a gentle squeeze.

 

[CP_dude]

i took your advice, it feels fine, and it's starting to pull itself back up...again, haha!

 

[Not a Number]

Maybe your plant is like one of those "drinking bird" toys. Put a glass of water where the mouth of the pitcher can dip into when it wilts and see if it bobs up faster.

 

[CP_dude]

haha, yeah! or like one of those string toy things, where when u push on the base the little dude goes limp, but when you let go it pops right back up, lol!